National Geographic Expeditions will launch its people-to-people tours in Cuba in November.
National Geographic received its Cuba travel license from the U.S. Treasury Department on Aug. 23. Operators must run educational tours in which participants interact with locals.
“Cuba: Discovering Its People and Culture” is a 10-day tour departing Miami on Nov. 26; Dec. 10, 24; Jan. 7, 21; Feb. 4, 18; March 10, 24; April 7, 21; and May 12.
Lynn Cutter, National Geographic’s senior vice president of travel and business development, said, “We’ve tapped into National Geographic’s network of experts and resources in Cuba to craft an exciting, immersive program that provides a true insider’s perspective and an interactive dialogue through encounters with local Cubans.”
Each departure will be led by a National Geographic expert who will serve as an ambassador between the travelers and the Cubans.
Author and travel photographer Christopher Baker will lead the first tour and several other departures. Author Tom Miller and Elizabeth Newhouse (former National Geographic editor and consultant with the Center for International Policy’s Cuba Project in Washington) also will head up departures.
The tour is $4,995 per person, double (add $560 for single travelers). Air to Miami and charter air to Havana are extra.
The itinerary includes Unesco World Heritage sites of Old Havana and Trinidad; a trip to the Bay of Pigs with Cuban veterans from the 1961 invasion; attendance at music and dance performances; and visits to local farms, parks, fishing villages, homes, schools, street parties, cathedrals, art studios and Hemingway’s rural home Finca Vigia.
Abercrombie & Kent on Monday said it was canceling its new Cuba program after reviewing a clarification on new Cuba travel regulations issued by the Treasury Department.